As is well known in the art, a conventional facsimile scans documents and transmits the scanned information through a modem in a standard facsimile format to a remote facsimile which receives the transmitted data by a modem and converts the transmitted data into a form for printing a document which is a replica of the document scanned by the transmitting facsimile.
Scanning and printing devices especially adapted for use with PCs (i.e. personal computers) are relatively expensive devices typically costing many hundreds of dollars to as much as several thousands of dollars for applications requiring character recognition capabilities.
It has been recognized that conventional facsimile machines may be utilized as scanners or printers for PCs. However, the interface devices presently available are both complicated and expensive and typically require a microprocessor which further tends to increase both cost and circuit complexity.